Sreenidhi Sivakumar - Rapid Prototyping: Radical Candor Microlearning (AI authoring)

Radical Candor: Giving Feedback That Actually Helps

The Challenge:

In many remote and hybrid work environments, professional growth is stalled by "Ruinous Empathy"—a culture where being "nice" prevents necessary, honest feedback. This project provides a 10-minute microlearning solution to help professionals challenge their peers directly while maintaining deep personal care.

Training Needs Analysis:

Based on a hypothetical gap analysis of mid-level management performance, I identified the following primary learning goals:

Identify the Four Quadrants: Distinguish between Radical Candor, Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity, and Ruinous Empathy.
The CORE Framework: Apply a structured method (Context, Observation, Result, Next steps) to give feedback.
Immediate Application: Transition from passive theory to active response in under 10 minutes.

My Role:

Instructional Designer: Conducted Training Needs Analysis (TNA) and mapped learning objectives.
AI Architect: Collaborated with MindSmith’s agentic AI to storyboard and generate role-play simulations.
Content Editor: Refined AI-generated content to ensure human-centric empathy and instructional clarity.

Launch the microlearning course

The Blueprint (Storyboard)

Before building the final assets, I utilized Mindsmith’s agentic AI to develop a logic-driven storyboard. This allowed me to "stress-test" the branching scenarios early in the design phase.

I focused the storyboard on a "choose-your-own-adventure" style logic to increase learner engagement.

View interactive storyboard

The Solution:

I designed a Microlearning module using MindSmith, an AI-native authoring tool. By moving away from traditional slide-based e-learning, I developed a scrolling, tile-based experience that emphasizes:

Real-world branching scenarios.
Direct application of the CORE Model (Context, Observation, Result, Next steps).
A rapid-prototyping workflow that reduced development time by 40% without sacrificing pedagogical quality.

Launch the microlearning course

Reflection :

Transitioning from a career in traditional higher education, including six years in academia guiding advanced research and dissertations, to Instructional Design has highlighted the power of "Agentic Design." For this project, I acted as the Architect and Editor, while Mindsmith served as my rapid prototyping partner.

My academic background provided the critical lens needed to "humanize" the AI’s foundational structure. While the AI generated initial drafts for role-play scenarios, I applied my expertise in adult learning theories and emotional intelligence to refine the feedback loops. I ensured the content accounted for the complex nuances of workplace hierarchies and professional relationships; details that require a seasoned educator’s touch to feel authentic.

This synergy allowed me to move from a high-level theoretical concept to a deployment-ready, SCORM-compliant microlearning package with unprecedented agility. This project proves that the future of Instructional Design lies in the masterful direction of AI tools by experts who understand the deep science of how people actually learn.